Extra $600 in jobless aid on the brink of expiring
WASHINGTON — A deadlocked Senate on Thursday left Washington for the weekend without extending a $600-per-week expanded jobless benefit that has helped keep both families and the economy afloat as the COVID-19 pandemic wreaks havoc on the country.
Friday’s expiration of the $600 jobless benefit sent Republicans controlling the Senate scrambling to respond. Top Senate Republican Mitch McConnell made a procedural move to make it easier to reach a potential compromise next week that would extend the bonus unemployment benefit while talks on a broader COVID-19 relief measure grind on.
But ahead of late-night talks at the Capitol, the outlook dimmed.
“I’m not very optimistic that we will have any kind of an agreement on a comprehensive bill in the near future,” said White House chief of staff Mark Meadows
He said he even doubted a deal could be struck next week.
Democrats have rejected a piecemeal approach, saying the next relief bill needs to move as a complete package. Any short-term jobless benefits extension of less than $600 per week is likely to be a nonstarter with them.
Talks on the relief bill are at a standstill with few reasons for optimism despite sweeping agreement among Washington’s top power players that Congress must pass further relief in coming days and weeks.
President Donald Trump is eager for another bill, and it’s also a priority for GOP allies like McConnell, as well as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and top Senate Democrat Chuck Schumer. Democrats hold a strong negotiating hand, with Republicans divided over their own proposal.
But bipartisan talks have yet to reach a serious, productive phase. Democrats are playing hardball, insisting on a package that’s far larger than the $1 trillionplus measure unveiled by McConnell on Monday. Thursday brought more titfor-tat.
“They won’t engage. Period,” McConnell said as he opened the Senate. “The Democrats are saying, my way or the highway.”
In an Wednesday, he showed a willingness to consider some Democratic priorities, like additional food aid. He also said extending the additional jobless benefits was urgent and made clear that he’s standing behind Trump.
“The economy does need more help. We have divided government. We have to talk to each other,” McConnell said on the PBS NewsHour. “And we have to try to get an outcome.”
Schumer continued his daily fusillade against McConnell and Republicans controlling the Senate, noting that McConnell “refuses to go in the room” and join the talks in person, instead transferring ownership of the talks to Meadows, along with Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, who has been a key architect of previous accords.
“We’re trying to negotiate,” Schumer said. “Who’s holding things up?”
In an earlier piece of legislative theater, Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., sought unanimous stand-alone Senate approval of a conservative GOP plan to cut back the $600-per-week unemployment benefit to $200, saying that the current amount discourages people from returning to work. Democrats countered with a plan to extend the $600 benefit through January. Both ideas failed.
Pelosi was dashing back to Washington after having traveled to Atlanta for the funeral of Rep. John Lewis, the civil rights icon.
Pelosi’s office announced a meeting for Thursday night with the White House negotiators.
Other stark differences remain between the $3 trillion proposal from Democrats and $1 trillion counter from Republicans.
Money for states and cities is a crucial dividing line as local governments plead for help to shore up budgets and prevent deeper layoffs as they incur COVID-19 costs and lost tax revenue in shutdown economies.